I've been waiting for my H1-B work visa and so was put on indefinite unpaid leave today. Now, that's its own nightmare, but the shutdown worries me because my work visa is supposed to go through three departments, two of which are closed. And the one that stays open, the USCIS, supposedly their online system would be down so my company won't be able to check my status either.

Yesterday I spoke to a librarian from the Library of Congress who said that, in the event of a government shutdown, he would have to immediately fly back to D.C.

I guess some politicians are hoping there will be an economic boost from furloughed government employees having to make expensive travel arrangements. It'll be shortlived, though. As he said he's got to report to his office so he can not get paid for doing nothing.

Heh, there was a lot of stammering. And, the look on the face of the guy on the right is priceless. He looks like a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. He knows he's in trouble, but he hopes he can distract and charm his way out of punishment. I just want to smack that smart-ass smirk off his face when she confronts him about how much he makes despite the shutdown.

Yeah. Funny how the money exists to continue making everyones lives a bureaucratic hellhole with pornoscanners, drones and illegally spying on romantic conquests. Clearly there's nothing to cut in the skeletonized budget...like the billion-dollar NSA facility in Utah, the TSA or the EPA SWAT teams.

Whoever the jagoffs are that decide what to shut down, they clearly don't want to actually close any of the overwhelming, useless, bloated bureaucracies that we all could do without.

Congress, or at least a tiny portion of Congress, basically threatened to shut the government down if they did not get their way. This represents a group that wishes to disrupt lawful governance and potential economic harm if their demands are not met.

Is that not effectively terrorism at work and if so can they not be classed as such and shipped off to GitMo since the whole Commander and Chief thing allowing the president to make military decisions?

It'd be a nuclear option but then again what has happened is an extreme event. All because of something a friend of mine said.

(11:50:07 AM) KiddRadical: If I was President and the representatives pulled this kind of partisan shit, I would declare the lot of them enemy combatants and ship them off to Gitmo.

Like I said, it's basically industrial action, and they're the corrupt, evil Union Bosses of their fevered imaginings, still getting wages from their members' dues, as said members are left wageless. This strikes me as a splendid way to spin this, though possibly a little nuanced for media discourse, I suppose...